Download GPX file for this article
52.331140.08446Full screen dynamic map

From Wikivoyage
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Cambridgeshire is a historic county in the East Anglia region of England, part of the United Kingdom.

Cities, towns and villages

Map of Cambridgeshire
Map
Map of Cambridgeshire

Cities

  • 1 Cambridge – picturesque university city and Cambridgeshire's traditional county town
  • 2 Ely – the cathedral city in the Fens
  • 3 Peterborough – growing industrial centre and cathedral city

Towns

Villages

Understand

For centuries much of the north east of the region was inaccessible marshland, until a programme of drainage assisted by Dutch engineers transformed the Fens into the country's most fertile farmland, leaving the landscape criss-crossed by canals and dotted with windmills.

The major population centres today remain concentrated in the south and west of Cambridgeshire, with the north and east of the region remains a bleak, empty landscape.

Talk

Cambridgeshire residents speak in the standard form of English common across South East England, and there should be little difficulty for English speakers in understanding them. Contrary to popular belief, most locals do not speak in the distinctive upper-class accents common amongst Cambridge University students.

Get in

By train

St Neots, Huntingdon and Peterborough sit on the East Coast Main line between London and the north. Express trains stop at Peterborough only. Cambridge is served by a separate line.

Cross country services serve Peterborough, the county's main rail junction

By car

The M11 from London terminates at Cambridge.

Get around

The region is well linked by rural bus services.

See

The region's chief attraction is the splendid architecture and attractive riverfront of the historic city of Cambridge. Further afield, attractions include:

  • Imperial War Museum Duxford
  • Wicken Fen south of Ely
  • Wimpole Hall and Home Farm near Royston.

Do

  • Punting on the River Cam in Cambridge

Eat

Cambridgeshire isn't known for its food specialities. Traditional English roasts are served in attractive country pubs throughout the region. Cambridge offers the widest range of restaurants to choose from, whilst Peterborough is the place to head for Italian.

Drink

The regions small towns and villages offer a particularly fine range of country pubs, many of which serve a good range of real ales. Most of the "local" beer served in the region comes from the Charles Wells brewery in Bedfordshire and Greene King brewery in Suffolk - you will see these names on pub signs everywhere in the region.

Stay safe

Cambridgeshire is a quiet and fairly prosperous region presenting relatively few hazards to the traveller. See the England section for more general safety tips.

Go next


This region travel guide to Cambridgeshire is an outline and may need more content. It has a template, but there is not enough information present. If there are Cities and Other destinations listed, they may not all be at usable status or there may not be a valid regional structure and a "Get in" section describing all of the typical ways to get here. Please plunge forward and help it grow!